The Purple Martin

"This book is a convenient, one-stop source for scads of martin information and will make informative and pleasing reading for all of [the public] who are attracted to martins, including martin 'landlords.'"

—William J. Graber III, past vice president, American Birding Association, and past president, Texas Ornithological Society and The Nature Conservancy of Texas

One of the surest harbingers of spring is the return of Purple Martins to the houses that people put up across the United States to attract these companionable birds. The bustle of courting, rearing nestlings, and fledging young martins fills the summer months, until approaching autumn lures the martins to their winter range in South America. Then human landlords refurbish their martin houses and wait for another round of this much-anticipated yearly cycle.

Robin Doughty and Rob Fergus here present a concise natural history of the bird and its centuries-long companionship with people. They discuss the martin's scientific classification and names, its migration and range, and its family life. They relate stories of how Native Americans and European colonists attracted Purple Martins and how Americans throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries helped martins survive the loss of natural nesting sites by providing houses for them. The authors also describe how whole communities have become centers for martin promotion and detail the many organizations and resources in print and on the Internet through which martin fans can communicate with each other and learn more about attracting and housing the birds.

Purple martins, the largest swallow, can be found in most of the U.S. during the spring and summer, nesting in colonies in human-made martin houses and (sometimes) in holes in trees. The authors, both Texans, explain the classification of these "aerial acrobats" and discuss their migration and range. They explain the birds' role in the founding of the Audubon Society for the Protection of Birds and discuss their life cycle and the reciprocal relationship between them and humans. With 16 color and four black-and-white illustrations, this book "is about a special relationship--the regard, affection, and understanding we have increasingly come to express about a bird that responds more and more to our concern for its survival." Truly a labor of love, it contains a wealth of information about this backyard treasure. George Cohen
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